A Secret to Keep
by Vexychic92
Summary: Kokoro Shoujiki is the ambassador from The Villge hidden in the Heart. The only problem is she was raised as a boy. Will her secret be let out by our favorite silver haired ninja?
1. Meet Kokoro Shoujiki

Disclaimer: I don't own any original character, villages, techniques, or jutsus.

The giant gates loomed ahead of me. I instinctively put my hands behind my back and tried to fathom how large it was. I've never seen something so huge. I pulled out the sheet of paper my mother gave me before _the_ incident. The memories came rushing back quickly, but I was quicker. I shook my head and looked at the paper. "_Shoujiki, despite you were born a girl, you were raised a boy. You are the pride of the Kokoro clan. If you mess this chance for our alliance with the Konoha village, you are going to be disowned. Here are the directions._" I skimmed over the directions making sure I hadn't gone the wrong way. "_Be careful, you are only in training. If anything happens to us back at home, you will know._" It was true, and I had known. I had dubbed it _the_ incident.

I heard footsteps behind me, but I didn't acknowledge them. I was too preoccupied with shutting out the memories. I twiddled my fingers behind my back and kept staring at the giant gates ahead of me. They sort of reminded me of home. I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Hey, are you ok?"

A male was the owner of the voice. He sounded almost like my older brother back home, before he died in battle. Just his voice made me want to hug the stranger. Instead, I just nodded. The person ruffled my already dirty mat of hair. "Good to hear. I wouldn't want a refugee to be feeling too bad." The hair on the back of my neck rose up. Refugee? What made him think I was a refugee? I started walking forward towards the gates, but I felt as though I was being followed. I was almost to the gates when I couldn't take it anymore. I spun around to tell the stranger off when I ran face first into a mass of chest muscle.

"Are you ok?" He asked. I muffled out "sure, whatever." but I don't think he heard me because he asked me what I had said.

I took a few steps back, bowed, and smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm ok." The stranger had silver aloof hair, as if he just let it grow that way. His eyes spoke warmth and trustworthiness. His facial features accented everything about his face. But what weirded me out was that he had a giant mask covering the lower half of his face. I could only see the bridge of his nose. "Is something the matter?"

I blushed when I noticed I had been staring. "Um, no and I'm sorry. I'm Kokoro Shoujiki."

"Nice to meet you, Shoujiki. Where are you from?" He sounded like he was interrogating me, totally opposite from his tone before.

"Don't worry about that. Can you tell me if this is the Konoha Village?" I asked as nicely as possible, or so I thought. The guy glared at me.

"I'll tell you when you tell me where you're from." He thought he had the upper hand, but he had another thing coming. I just turned away and started heading towards the gate. The man grabbed my arm.

"I wasn't finished with you." He sounded calm and yet still stern.

"Well, I was finished with you." He didn't let go. "I'd advise you get your hands off of me." He still didn't let go. Well, he had it coming. I started to jab at his side, but he just blocked me. I resorted to hitting a pressure point in his arm. He immediately let go, but he went into a battle stance.

"I never thought I'd ever fight someone I never knew the name of." I said.

"Hatake Kakashi." He lunged forward and started the dance of the duel. I dodged, blocked, and attacked on my own, but he was much stronger and quicker. He had me down on the ground after several hours. I was exhausted, but still I tried to stand.

"You should be knocked out after that last blow." He tried to calm his voice, but it didn't work. I had got in a few of my own blows, all to pressure points, but this Hatake man held his own.

"I have a mission to complete. If I don't complete it, I might as well be dead. If I lose to you, then my training is as worthless as that mask of yours." I lunged at him, hoping I could get in one last blow. Sadly, it didn't work out for me. He pushed one of the several pressure points in my neck. I was out quicker than you could say "Ninja".

I awoke to someone carrying me. I tried to move, but it hurt all over. I moaned and tried to forget the pain. I heard a young male laugh. After that I heard a quick reprimand from another male, someone much older. Then it hit me quick. That someone was the man—Hatake Kakashi—who had just knocked me out, and he was carrying me! I squirmed and yelped out in pain.

"You shouldn't move so quickly. You just survived a battle with the great Hatake Kakashi." Said a foreign voice. It sounded like a younger male, but sort of cocky and snide.

"That's enough Sasuke." That Hatake person ordered. He sounded calm and yet firm. Note: Get pointers from the Hatake person. "How are you feeling Shoujiki? You took some pretty hard hits. Don't worry though; we're almost to the hospital."

I tried to tell me I had to go see the Hokage first, but my voice wouldn't work. I shook my head hard, despite the raging headache I got afterwards. "No? Why not? Oh right, you're mission. Naruto had gone through your things after I brought you in Konoha. You're to see the Hokage, right?" I nodded, adding to the headache.

"Alright, to the Hokage we go." He said as if I had a choice, even though I couldn't move. He wasn't being carried around the village like a dead body. As we walked around the village, we had the attention of almost every person we saw. A few people waved, others just stared. A couple of women glared, but then started to laugh as they noticed what was going on. I was humiliated. I buried my head in his chest, trying to make myself invisible.

"Shoujiki, are you ok?" Kakashi asked. He had concern in his voice, but I couldn't tell if it was real or not. Who cared? I didn't answer. "Alright, but anyway we're here."

I shot my head up, inducing another headache. The Hokage's Building was immense, only slightly smaller than the giant gates from before. I looked away, knowing what came next. "Um, Hatake-san, I've got to go in alone. It's the erm…mission. I'll just need you to help me inside."

He chuckled. How dare he laugh at my seriousness? I glared at him. "I'm sorry, Shoujiki, but you aren't walking alone anywhere. Your nerves are shot just from the battle from before. You need time to heal. Going to see the—"He stopped abruptly.

"So, Kakashi, it looks as if you've finally found someone?" A young female voice said teasingly. I buried my head in Kakashi's chest again. After a few moments, I felt a poke in my back. "Hey kid, who are you?" She said fiercely.

"K-Kokoro S-Shoujiki." I stammered out.

"Oh, you're that brat from the Village Hidden in the Heart." She scoffed.

"The what?" Kakashi asked. I knew that people weren't supposed to know about our village, but I truly wanted to tell him. Instead, I just gave him a half answer.

"It's my home." Kakashi looked skeptical, but I couldn't tell him the whole truth.

"Anyway, Kakashi bring him inside. While you're doing that, tell me why he's so incapacitated that you must carry him."

I glanced at Kakashi, hoping he wouldn't tell her we had fought. I didn't know what Konoha did, but back home a ninja who fights firsts and asks questions later had to go through the most dreaded thing from home. The memories came flashing back and I heard the echo of screaming. I couldn't hear anything else, except for the screaming. I forced myself to not scream. Kakashi glanced my way, but he didn't say anything. I couldn't take it anymore. I buried my head in his chest, again, to muffle my soft screams. When I opened my eyes, we were in an office. Not that fancy kind, but a functional office.

"Alright kid, lay it on me. Tell me why I get a weird note saying that a young ambassador from the Village hidden in the Heart will be trying to form an alliance with our village."

I sighed and looked up at Kakashi. He put me down in a chair, getting entirely what I want from him. He leaned against a wall and waited for me to start. I sighed again. I put on my ambassador face, surprised they hadn't noticed that I was a girl. "It is true, I am the ambassador. My family, how should I say this, rules the Kokoro Village, hence why our last names' is Kokoro. A few months back, we were attacked by the infamous Akatsuki. My clan believes that you know more than we do."

I took a deep breath before I continued. "My father, Kokoro Ichigo, gave me orders to come here and ask for an alliance. Sadly, a few days after I left, my family was slaughtered by the Akatsuki. I am the only Kokoro left."

It was silent for a long time. I shifted nervously in my chair. I went for the easy way out. "Is there anything you want to know about my clan, our village? I will try to answer your questions to the best of my ability."

The Hokage sighed. "At the moment, we have no intelligence of your village. It of our utmost concern that if we are to form an alliance, you are to explain to us where your village is and what its intentions are." I groaned on the inside. I hated when leaders used the "village we". I then noticed that I had just used it before.

I opened my mouth to start, but nothing came out. I tried to remember where our village was located. Everything was fuzzy. "Can you give me a few minutes?"

Kakashi and the Hokage shared a look. The Hokage let me go. I tried my best to run outside the door, but Kakashi grabbed hold of my arm for the second time. "Are you going to be ok?"

I looked from his hand on my arm and then gave him an icy glare. "Why do you care?" I snatched my arm away and limped out the door. My nerves are not shot, I thought-yelled. I heard him sigh and close the door behind me. I fell against the door, trying to hold back the tears. It was just too soon to be thinking about home. I slid down the length of the door, only to bang my head on the doorknob. I hissed out in pain and buried my head in my knees. I wept silently.

After a few moments, I quieted down enough to be able to hear them talking. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I was on the door. It was inevitable anyway seeing as how my forte was espionage and intelligence.

"He stopped crying Tsunade. Something about him isn't adding up. I don't know what yet, but I'm going to find out." Kakashi's voice is a forced whisper. "Give me the mission."

The Hokage sighed. "No. He'll tell us everything when he's ready. That's not exactly what an ambassador does, but he's only a child. I think he's a little younger than Naruto."

I couldn't hear what Kakashi said next, but I could guess it was something about my profile because the Hokage said, "We don't have much on him. All I know is what he just told us. By the way, why are you still here?"

"Because I want to know what's the kid's deal. Why is he so emotional, when he's supposed to be the ambassador of a foreign village? They are supposed to be the elite of their village. From what I just witnessed, that village can't exactly be that strong."

I knew the Hokage was mad, because her reply came out as a hiss. "What you just witnessed was a child thrust into an adult situation. He's now the leader of a whole village, and he's barely twelve." She sighed. "You can have the mission, but you better not do anything to make him not feel welcome."

I try to muffle my groan by stuffing my head between my knees. I didn't want that strange guy trying to get all buddy-buddy with me on false pretenses. If he thought I'd be an easy nut to crack, he's got another thing coming. I couldn't hear anything for awhile, but then the door opened. I fall backward on the floor, looking up at Kakashi's face.

"Good Marrow fine sir, wherefore art thou staring at me?" I quoted some old language I had to study when I was a young girl.

"Whatever. You're staying over at my place. Here's your stuff." He drops my bags right near my head. I growl and roll over.

"You know, if you tried being nicer to me, I might tell you something." He looked taken aback. I smirked and grabbed my bags. "Lead the way, fine sir."

He took the scenic route through the Konoha Village, which means he was going in circles to make me mad. I could have sworn we passed the same ramen shop twenty times, waving at the same blond haired boy. Finally, we reach his place. I look around and notice the Hokage's building is not but two blocks away. "You made me walk 5 hours when it would have taken ten minutes, JUST TO GET TO YOUR PLACE?!" I could practically feel the headache coming on. I sighed. He chuckled, like he had won the war. Sadly for him, there are many battles in a single war.

He opened the door and I limped over to the couch. I plopped down and rubbed my aching feet. I never walked so much in my life. He sat next to me and I could feel his gaze on him. I didn't face him and kept rubbing my feet.

"Are you going to look at me?" He asks through clenched teeth.

"Were you planning on asking me if I wanted to look at you?" I smirk and look at him. "What do you want?"

He sighed. "Housekeeping rules: You sleep on the couch, I sleep on the bed. Don't wake me up for anything, but I can wake you up for everything. Don't touch or go through anything of mine, but I can go and search through your things to make sure you are who you say you are." I gulp, hoping he doesn't learn my secret. "Lastly, when I go on a mission, you are to come with me, regardless of what you are doing."

I clench my teeth and try not to punch Kakashi in the face. "Shoujiki rules: I sleep wherever I feel like it, just probably never on your bed. Who knows what goes on in that filth? I have a biological clock set that only wakes me up. Nothing you can do will wake me up. If you go through my things, you will undergo severe pain because I have booby trapped my things to only open for me. I will never go through your things, unless I feel a pressing need. Any questions?" He shook his head, eyes wide. "Good. I'm going to sleep." I shoved him off the couch and situated myself. I closed my eyes closed, hoping that the old "out of sight, out of mind" saying worked.

After a few minutes, he still didn't leave me. He ruffled my hair and whispered "Good night, Shoujiki. Always trust your heart." He left me to go to sleep, which I did blissfully.

I awoke to the sound of sizzling food. Automatically my nose started to itch, because of its sensitivity. I smiled and stretched, reminding myself to snag a quick piece before going to meet my sensei. I stand up awkwardly, still disoriented from my sleep. "Mother, is that bacon you're making? Can I have some before I go to meet Sensei?" I wait for an answer. At first I hear nothing, but then I hear chuckling. To my complete horror, Kakashi came stepping out of his kitchen holding a sizzling pan of bacon laughing at me.

"First of all, I'm not your mother. Secondly, you can have some but I'm your sensei now." He went back into the kitchen, still laughing. I just stood there dumbfounded. Where was my mother? Why was I here? Then it all hit me. I remembered the previous day and I winced. Today was not going to be a good day.

I walked into the kitchen, rubbing my eyes. Kakashi was not going to be a very good person to live with. I'm going to have to get an apartment for myself, I thought I said to myself but Kakashi started laughing. "Don't worry; you'll be here until the Hokage says otherwise." He put some bacon, eggs, and pancakes on a plate and handed it to me. I looked at them and then back to him.

"Don't worry, I didn't poison them." He put the rest on his plate and sat down to eat. "Do me a favor and just eat. If you are malnourished the Hokage will kill me." He dove into his food as if he had never eaten in ages. I gave him a disgusted look and tried the pancakes. They were pretty good. Before I knew it, I had eaten it all.

"So, Shoujiki, why exactly are you looking for an alliance?"

I thought about it. Father just said to get an alliance, she never said why. "Before, I didn't think there was a real reason. Now, we need it for protection. We don't have many ninjas after the attack. That one guy with the red eyes was a formidable opponent for a lot of our ninjas, but they weren't good enough. We almost had him beat, but then that blue guy came out of no where and helped him out."

Kakashi gave me a weird look. I looked down at my plate and back at him. "What'd I say?"

"You mean to tell me that every single ninja in your village could've beat Itachi if Kisame didn't show up?" He asked me with an interested look.

"Who's Itachi and Kisame?" I asked.

He chuckled at my question. "Itachi was the red eyed man and Kisame was the blue guy in your story."

"Oh. Well, if just one of our ninja fought Itachi, then we would have lost because he would've picked us off. But, we all fought as a unit and as one, so we got him down on his back for a long time."

"Then Kisame showed up?" He asked. I wasn't fooled for a moment. I knew that if I told him everything, he was going to try to pry my secrets out of me. No chance of that.

"Yea, he was pretty good too, until he started using his Samehada sword. What a cheap way to win. If a ninja can't fight with his fists, jutsu, and wits, then he doesn't deserve to be a ninja. That's my ninja way." I smirked at him and stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to explore this fine village you call home." I ran out the door before he could say anything. After I was a few meters away from his home, I stopped running. Hopefully, today was going to be a better day than before.


	2. The Great Ramen challenge

_Note to self: Never run from the man who's supposed to be your escort around the city. Why? Because you don't know where the heck you are and you have no idea where you're going._ Yup, I had dug my own grave and I was going to have to lie in it. How did this happen you ask? Let me just tell you what I'm experiencing:

I'm backed up against a wall in an alley, holding a kunai in both hands. Several young men are trying to come towards me, but I keep swiping my kunai within arms' reach. They are cooing at me and trying to treat me like a little kitten. _I swear, it's the gay people who bother me the most. Why can't it be girls?_ I rolled my eyes several times, hoping they knew what they were in for. Finally, one of them knocked a kunai out of my left hand.

"Finally, I was waiting for one of you to make a move." I grabbed the closest one's arm and pulled it behind his back, using him as a human shield. "Now who wants to get some? It's free!" I pushed my shield into his friends and I jumped over the wreckage. Konoha has some sucky people if this is the best they can do. As I turned my back to walk away, I heard one charge at me with a very crap battle cry. I flipped him over my shoulder. Who said women can't fight?

"Let that be a lesson for you."

I looked around for the mystery voice. It belonged to a man standing on top of the adjacent wall to me. He had brown hair tied up in a pony tail and a long scar across the bridge of his nose. He had to be a good fighter if this is a battle scar and he survived. He jumped down and waved his hand. The young men ran off out of the alley.

"Who are you?" I asked, giving him a weird look.

He chuckled. What is with everyone chuckling at me today? "I'm Umino Iruka, and you must be Kokoro Shoujiki."

"Who's giving out my name? Who are you?"

"Anyone who works around the Hokage knows who you are. I'm surprised you haven't been bombarded by people yet." He patted me on the shoulder, smiling at my shocked face. "Don't worry, if push comes to shove, Kakashi and I will run them off."

"Joy. I feel so much better now. What do you guys have to eat around here?" I had eaten so fast that I didn't really fill myself up.

"Well, the nearest place is a ramen shop, Ichiraku. I'm supposed to meet one of my old students there."

"Lead the way!" I pushed him ahead and followed him the whole way. After a while, I saw a stand that had seats for customers. Standing in front of the stand was a blond boy. From afar it looked like he had sea blue eyes. He wore an orange jumpsuit. He looked kind of cute, but he looked really impatient. "Who's that?"

"That's my student, and by his look we're late. His name is Uzumaki Naruto. Oi, Naruto!" He yelled out. He's the kid who went through my stuff.

"Iruka-Sensei! Why are you so late?" He yelled back.

"I love ramen, Umino-san." I ran ahead towards the stand, hoping to get first pick of the ramen. "Hello, Uzumaki-san. I'm-"

"I know who you are. Kakashi-sensei told me. Actually, we found you sprawled out on the ground in front of him after our mission."

"Huh?"

Flashback Naruto's POV

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" I asked Sakura, ignoring the teme. He showed me up again today and I was not in the mood for him.

"He went ahead to let the guards know we're coming back." Sasuke answered. "Dobe."

"Shutup, teme! I wasn't asking you!" I shoved him. That started it all. He shoved me back. I tackled him and we were going at it. We tumbled further ahead and heard something.

"-as worthless as that mask of yours." Said a female voice.

We stopped fighting and looked up. Kakashi-sensei was staring down at a young man. He had the most beautiful eyes, a pale pink in color. He had dark brow skin, but that clashed with his red hair tied in a ponytail. It was strange. The young boy looked like a boy in clothes and hair cut, but had the facial features of a girl. And I could've sworn I heard a female voice…

"Kakaii-sensei, what happened?" I asked.

He swirled around and started babbling like and idiot, which was uncommon for the normally calm and collected Hatake Kakashi. "I didn't…anything…she…Nothing Happened!"

I busted out laughing. I couldn't contain myself. Kakashi-sensei was babbling for the first time. Well, since I've known him. I savored it, since I would most likely not see it again. I was swiftly kicked to the ground by Sasuke. That started our fight all over again. After a few minutes, Kakashi-sensei actually pulled us apart. Normally, he just let us duke it out until one of us threw in the towel. As I dusted myself off, mumbling about Sasuke's evilness, I spotted a bag.

"I'll carry his things." I announced as I quickly ran over and picked up that bag. It was a pale pink color, the same color as his hair. Across the flap was the name _Shoujiki_ with a little heart on the side.

"Naruto, come on. We're going to the village." Kakashi-sensei ordered. He had picked up the girl, marriage style, and made sure she was comfortable.

"Coming!" I yelled as I ran to join the group. Once we were inside Konoha, I looked through his bag. There was a mission scroll, some extra ninja supplies, some ramen in a cup, and a bunch of crushed up papers. I looked at a lot of papers. That's when everything made sense to me. For the first time in my life, I completely understood everything. I found a mission scroll and after pulling out it out I read it out loud:

_Kokoro Shoujiki, You have the honorable mission to form an alliance with the Hidden Leaf Village. Please do not mess up. We are all counting on you. The fate of our village rests in your hands._

_Kokoro Ichigo._

"Well that's strange. Putting all that pressure on a genin level ninja is just crazy." Kakashi-sensei said, looking down at Shoujiki.

I rummaged more into his bag. I found his ninja ID. I quickly skimmed over it and came to the shock of my life. "Actually, Kakashi-sensei, he's a chunin. And this ID looks pretty real." I held it up in his face.

"Naruto, get that thing out of Kakashi-sensei's face." Sakura ordered.

"It's alright Sakura. This ID is real Naruto, now get it out of my face."

Back to Reality

"Oh, ok." For a moment there, I thought I was going to have to kill him. But luckily for him, he doesn't know about my secret. I sat down and waited for Umino-san.

"Yea, but I know something you don't know." He said in a sing-song voice. The hairs on the back of my neck went up.

"What do you know?" I asked him wearily.

"I know something about you that no one else knows." He said again in a sing-song voice. I could've sworn I felt my heart beat out of my chest. The speed itself could've made the fastest ninja scared silly.

"We'll talk later." Just as he said that Umino-san came walking up.

"I see you've already met. For proper purposes, Uzumaki Naruto, meet Kokoro Shoujiki." He smiled and sat in between Naruto and I. Naruto gave a death glare to Iruka and smiled at me. I knew I was in trouble now. The last thing I needed was Naruto tailing after me. We all ordered ramen. Umino-san and Naruto had miso ramen, and I had beef ramen with extra beef. I quickly gulped it down, asking for more.

"Oh my, Naruto, she's beaten you in how fast you eat ramen." Umino-san quickly noticed. I turned my head and noticed that Naruto was drinking the broth. I was already starting my second bowl.

"She has yet to beat my record. Twenty-seven bowls in 2 minutes." He said out of the side of his mouth.

That was a challenge. I liked challenges. "You wanna bet? Starting when Umino-san says Go. You can't get sick."

"Deal. What's the winnings?" He was geared up to go, finishing his broth and putting it down on the table.

"Loser has to buy the other double the amount of ramen the winner had." I smirk. No one has ever beaten me. Not in any of the villages I've been to.

"Alright! Prepare to lose, Shoujiki!"

I chuckled. "Whatever you say, Naruto. Are you ready Umino-san?"

"What have I gotten myself into? Sure. On your marks." He mumbled to himself and started the countdown. Naruto and I braced ourselves.

"Get set." Naruto and I had chopsticks in hand.

"Go!" Naruto and I quickly started eating. I was up by three bowls at 16 while he had 13. Umino-san kept track of who had the most bowls. The lead kept switching every few seconds or so. We were coming towards the one minute mark. I stopped listening to Umino-san and just kept eating. Pretty soon, I could've sworn I heard a gurgling sound. I turned my heard to see that Naruto was holding his stomach and looking a little green. That means I won the challenge.

"Oh, yea! I rule! Count the bowls Umino-san."

As he counted, I was trying to calm Naruto down. Not only did he lose, but he was feeling sick as well. I reached into my ninja bag and pulled out something for his stomach and some water. I shook up the herbs with the water. Handing him the bottle, I start to recount what Umino-san may have missed. You never know.

"What do you have Shoujiki?" Umino-san asked.

I finished counting. "It was a tie. His 29 to my 29. But I won because he got sick. Don't worry, Naruto. Just show me the way and I'll help you home." I helped him stand and started the walk to his house. "See you later, Umino-san."

As I followed Naruto's directions, I told him about my home. Anything he asked about, I told him. He asked about what we did for fun: skirmishes and tournaments. He also asked about what was my favorite kind of ramen: beef ramen. My specialty as a ninja: Intelligence gathering. But when he asked about my family, I couldn't answer him.

"I don't have a family either. Well, a biological one." He understood, but he didn't get what I meant. I can't talk about them, not yet. "Anyway, we're here."

I looked up to see a building with several apartments. I guess he pays for it with whatever earnings he gets from missions. I helped him up the stairs when I sensed someone watching me. I turned my head only to see nothing. It was the oldest trick in the book and someone was trying to pull it on me. I shook my head and opened up the door for Naruto. He was feeling better, but I felt obliged to help him all the way 'til he was safe and sound in his apartment.

As we walked in, I thought to myself, _what a dump_. I knew that if I ever had to live somewhere, it wouldn't be with Naruto. It was a complete mess. Ramen cups were scattered along the table. Clothes were all over the floor. I didn't dare look in the bathroom. _Lord, help me. If I don't die from the fumes, don't let mother see me in this mess._

"Don't mind the mess. It normally doesn't look like this." He went into the bathroom and I didn't want to know what happened next.

I started to clean up. I put all his dirty clothes in one place, threw away all the trash, left him a brief message, and walked out the door. I couldn't stand the fumes any longer. I still had that feeling of being watched. I started to really hate whoever was following me. I started walking around the village aimlessly, hoping to get a glimpse of my follower. _This person is a good ninja. Maybe it's a Jonin or a chunin._ I guess I took a wrong turn cause I ended up in an alley.

"Well this stinks. I need to check up on Hatake-san." I muttered to myself. "What's a helpless girl to do?"

"What'd you say?"

I spun around so fast I got dizzy. When my eyes cleared up, I was horrified to see who it was. It was Hatake Kakashi. I was doomed. "Huh?"

"What did you say, Shoujiki?" I clearly don't remember giving him the right to only use my name. I am an ambassador, you know.

"Nothing." I've got to be more careful. I started to walk around him, but he pushed me back in front of him.

"No, tell me what you said."

"I didn't say anything." Yet again I tried to walk around, but he pushed me back.

"What did you say, Shoujiki? No more games." _I'm screwed._

"I said 'What's a helpless guy to do?' What'd you think I said?" Hopefully, he takes the bait.

He shook his head, as if trying to clear the idea from his head. My butt was saved for the time being. "Nothing. Anyway, I've found a place for you to stay for the rest of your time here. We need to go see the Hokage and have her finalize it."

I remembered Naruto's dump of a place and shook my head. "I'm completely fine living with you. I don't ever want to live in a dumpy apartment." I shuddered and started feeling dizzy again. I could remember the fumes vividly. _Lord, don't let him put in a dumpy place._

He chuckled. _It's official, today has got to be Chuckle at Shoujiki day._ "Don't worry, Shoujiki. You won't be anywhere near Naruto's neck of the woods. You'll be near me so I can keep an eye on you. I live close to Iruka."

"Oh, you mean Umino-san. He seems nice." He finally let me pass him this time.

"Yea, he's quite nice. His house is pretty snug as well. He's a great decorator." Hatake-san had this dreamy look on his eyes and I felt queasy in the pit of my stomach.

"Sure…"

Something didn't seem right here, but who was I to care? It was his life and the last thing I needed to have on my mind were mysteries. We walked to the Hokage's office, talking about Umino-san and Naruto. When I mentioned that I beat Naruto in a ramen eating challenge, he gave me a weird look. _Great, more mysteries._ Hatake-san told Hokage everything about the apartment, which was everything that Naruto's wasn't.

"It's spacious, clean, in a good neighborhood, and it is a couple blocks down from Iruka and me." He pleaded for my case, which wasn't that big of a deal. It was his place or Umino-san's. Well, that's if I got Umino-san to let me stay with him.

"Alright, he can stay there. Just don't let him out of your sight. The last thing we need is a kidnapped ambassador."

I rolled my eyes. I am not incapable of protecting myself. "I'm not some child who can't protect himself. I am a chunin."

"Oh, you are now?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I am. I am not Naruto but I am not Hatake-san. I do have skills but I am still in training. So do me a favor, and treat me as the Shinobi I am." I smirked and chuckled to myself. "I am sorry for disrespecting you." I bowed as low as I could manage."

"Don't do it again." She stood and pulled me back up. "But it was nice to have someone who would stand up to me, just don't let it happen again."

I turned to look at Hatake-san. You could see the smile in his eyes. "Good work Shouji-kun." He whispered. That sounded cute. I think I'll keep it, until I leave.

As I changed into a nightgown that night, I smiled to myself. Today had been a pretty good day. I had "met" Naru-kun, which was what I decided to call him from now on. Kakaii-san was being nice to me, even though he's been acting weird since he caught me in the alley. Umino-san was actually next door to me, which I thought was actually planned. I opened the window, praying a little breeze.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck go up. Someone was watching me, and I had no idea how long they had been. I quickly pulled the covers from the bed and wrapped them around me. I looked out the window and looked around. I didn't see anyone, but I was pretty sure they saw me. I scowled and turned my back to the window. I need to buy curtains tomorrow, dark and thick ones. And paint. I finally relaxed after a while and went to bed, still wrapped up in the covers. As I drifted off to sleep, I heard something near the window.

"Good night, Shouji-chan. Sweet dreams. I'll protect your secret."


	3. Busted!

I was sitting in the middle of a large room in the only chair that was visible

_I was sitting in the middle of a large room in the only chair that was visible. All around me were everyone from the village. I looked up to see Mother, Father, Sango, and Gigi. They were all chanting the same thing._

"_You can't handle the pressure. You can't handle the responsibility."_

_They kept saying that over and over again. It was driving me insane. When I stood up to tell them to stop, I fell through the floor. I was screaming through the darkness, hoping something or someone would catch me. I saw my doom before I felt it. Who knew it would be a floor?_

BAM!

I slammed into something hard. It felt like the floor. I must've died. Darn, and here I had been wanting to eat some more ramen.

"Shouji-chan!"

_Who the heck could be calling me that?_

"Shouji-chan, wake up!"

_If I didn't know any better, that sounded a lot like Kakaii-san?_ I knew I had to get up soon, but I really didn't feel like it. I started to hear footsteps.

"Shouji-chan, it's time to get up. You have- What happened in here?"

I pulled the covers off my head to see Kakaii-san staring down at me. _I really must be on the floor._ "Why do you keep calling me, Shouji-chan? I'm a guy." That has got to be getting old by now. Only my family knew I was a girl and I had been saying that since I was little.

"Because you are not a guy. I was watching the area last night, making sure that no one was going to try a kidnap attempt. I was checking inside your room, you were changing." I could hear the smirk in his voice. Darn that mask!

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I couldn't get up 'til he left, or else he would see me in my nightgown.

He sighed and walked over to me and knelt down next to a corner of the covers. He snatched them away from me and waved his hand. "Behold a girl."

I screamed, ran into the bathroom, and locked the door. My life was over. No one had ever knew I was a girl besides my family. I was doomed.

Kakashi's POV

_She overreacted to the whole thing. I mean, who cared if anyone knew she was a girl? No wait Kakashi, she comes from another culture. She's basically royalty._

Who was I kidding? She needed to come to terms that she was a girl. I walked calmly to the bathroom door and knocked calmly. If push came to shove, I'd have to go and get Iruka. He knew what to do in these situations.

"I am not coming out, so don't try anything." She yelled.

She was testing my nerves, which someone hardly ever did. I usually never blow my top, unless it's for fun. "Look, Shouji-chan-"

"Stop calling me Shouji-chan."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you to. Go away Kakaii-san."

How can she call me Kakaii-san, but I can't call her Shouji-chan? "Why in the world would I do that?"

"Because."

"Because why?" _Remain calm Kakashi, remain calm._

"Because I asked you to." She unlocked the door. _Finally!_ I walked in, but something was blocking the door.

"I didn't say you could come in." Obviously, she was leaning against the door.

"Shouji-chan, please let me in." I asked her as nicely as possible, but she was irking my nerves.

"Kakashi! Where are you?" Iruka was calling me. It was time for us to pick up our squad.

"I'm consoling the little ambassador." I yelled back.

"Shoujiki? Why are you?" He jumped in through her bedroom window. I knew I hated when people do that, so I knew she had to as well.

"Because I found out something." I told her I'd keep her secret, so I wasn't gonna tell Iruka.

"You mean the fact that she's a girl?"

The door swung wide open. Shoujiki was staring at Iruka open mouthed with an angry look on her face. I took a step back. I knew firsthand what a woman could do if angered enough.

"What did you just say?" She said with a shaking voice. I knew that she was using every bit of strength in her body and mind to not kill Iruka where he was standing.

"I already knew you were a girl when I first met you. I've been teaching kids for a long time, Shoujiki, so don't think I wouldn't have noticed." He had put a hand on his waist and looked at her like she had missed the easy question in school.

She slumped down to the ground and hugged her knees to her chest. "No one ever knew before. You two are the first to ever know, besides my family. Not even my body guard knew."

Iruka and I looked at each other. I shrugged and we spoke with Ninja body language.

(A/N: _Iruka _**Kakashi. **Got it? Good.)

_She has lived her whole entire life as a boy._

**So? She needs to embrace her feminine side before she loses what chances she has to meet a good "king" for her village. She can't run it.**

_Why not?_

**Because she's a female. They all rule by their emotions, whether raised to be emotional or not.**

_Kakashi that's sexist and you know it! She could rule if she wanted to. You are not going to interfere in her life at all. If she asks for advice, give her some. If not, butt out._

**Whatever.**

I felt something on my shoulder. Shoujiki was tapping it. "What?"

"I can understand what you're saying. I am a chunin." She sounded frustrated and irritated, if that was possible.

"We're talking Jonin." I was getting irritated with this girl. **Iruka, if you don't get this girl to stop…**

_Don't worry._ Thankfully, he stepped in quickly. "Shoujiki, don't you think that you should get dressed?"

"No, I'm not going out today. Kakashi and you are going to go buy me clothes, because he busted me as a girl. He has to buy me more convincing boy clothes."

That's when I dropped my mouth. I was not going to go out and buy Shoujiki more clothes, let alone boy clothes. But I did promise her that I would keep her secret. Darn promises…

"Ok, I'll buy you our clothes. But you owe me big time." I turned around and started to walk when I remembered that I had no idea what color she liked, if she liked showing skin or not, if she rather tights to regular clothes, nothing. "What do you like to wear Shoujiki?"

We spent several hours going over what she wanted, what she liked, what she didn't like, and how much it was all going to cost. Luckily, for Iruka and I, she liked saving and money and she was cheap. Very cheap.

"Alright, let's get going." Iruka and I walked out the door, not knowing that someone was watching us leave. I didn't notice it then, because by then it was late in the morning and everyone was watching everyone.

* * *

Shouji: I'm so sorry that it's so short, just I really need to go to bed and I don't feel like dragging it out.


End file.
